Track and Field: Stechschulte Steady at Second
May 04, 2007 05:27 PM | General
May 4, 2007
STORRS, Conn. – After a steady day of competition that saw her nail a personal best and a NCAA Regional qualifier in the 100 meter hurdles, West Virginia University senior Abbie Stechschulte sits at second place in the heptathlon after day one at the BIG EAST Championship at the George J. Sherman Sports Complex in Storrs, Conn.
With four events down, Stechschulte has recorded a score of 3,384 points, trailing only Jillian Drouin of Syracuse by 220 points. Buky Bamigboye of Georgetown is in third place with 3,259 points.
“Abbie had a pretty good day, but she knows there is work to do tomorrow,” coach Jeff Huntoon says. “She’s just thinking too much right now. But she had a solid day and now knows what she needs to accomplish tomorrow.”
The Columbus Grove, Ohio, native started her run at the championship spectacularly, taking first in the 100 meter hurdles with a personal best and NCAA Regional qualifying time of 13.85. The finish is the fourth best in WVU history.
Stechschulte followed her run with a fourth place finish in the high jump, leaping 1.66 meters.
The day ended with Stechschulte throwing 12.72 meters in the shot put and running 25.19 in the 200 meter dash.
Stechschulte earned her spot in this weekend’s Championship after her stellar, personal best performance a month ago at the Texas Relays. Finishing fourth with 5,609 points, she not only qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championship, but also scored an Olympic Trials standard.
The heptathlon will conclude tomorrow, May 5, with the last event set to begin at noon.
